Diabetes is a gift. Unwrap it.

A lucky Type 1 Diabetic

In 2020, I was asked to speak to a group of newly diagnosed diabetics. The presentation never happened. I re-read this recently and the message is as true today as it ever will be. If you know anyone who has been recently diagnosed, it would be my privilege if you were to share this. And they are welcome to get in touch.

My name is Ben Flintoff and I’m a diabetic. Just kidding, this isn’t a Diabetics Anonymous group. However, the number of people who are unaware of the disease and how it may affect them or their loved ones is quite intimidating.

That is why I would like to thank you for taking the time to come here tonight and learn more about the diabetes obstacle. I call it an obstacle because if you steer on the path of life correctly, the most damaging influence diabetes may have on your life can be limited, minimised or completely avoided. But you have to drive your “life car” and you have to keep your eyes on the road.

You may be here because you are a diabetic, because your doctor told you that you were “at risk”, or because you know someone who needs some help. If you are in the latter category, I hope the person you are helping is sitting right next to you, because I know I wouldn’t be where I am now if it weren’t for the love and support of my wife. Sometimes she had to take the wheel of my “life car”, to make sure I didn’t hit anything I shouldn’t have.

I was first diagnosed with Diabetes in September 2001. It should have come as no surprise simply because my family had an insane history of producing diabetics. My dad’s mother had 12 siblings, all had diabetes. My mum’s mother had a sister die of juvenile diabetes. And let me tell you, diabetes is about as hereditary as a disease can be. I had originally gone to the doctor to have a blood test for glandular fever. I had been feeling awful and something had to be done. The results came back and the doctor gets me into the office and says, “well we have some good news, you haven’t got glandular fever. But, unfortunately we have discovered you are diabetic and have hypothyroidism”. Well you can imagine what I told the doctor. For starters, I said I wasn’t paying because it wasn’t the information I was after. Then I got handed a heap of brochures and a letter authorising me to become a member of Diabetes Queensland.

My feelings when I was told I was diabetic were of total confusion and frustration. I didn’t feel in control, which is one of the basic human needs. And worst of all, I thought it meant I couldn’t eat chocolate ever again. How on earth can I possibly live? Celery and carrots for the rest of my life!

I then went off to Diabetes Queensland and bought a blood glucose monitor and a heap of testing strips, plus a few packets of those great low GI foods and sugar free lollies they had on display. I didn’t really eat lollies anyway, but I figured if it was in the Diabetes shop it was basically health food.

At home that evening I had my first attempt at testing my blood. It made me cry. Not because it hurt, but because I couldn’t make any blood come out and I was squeezing so hard on my finger that the blood actually ran away from the tip of my finger. It took about 10 minutes to get the right amount of blood onto the testing strip and I was absolutely inconsolable by this stage, I felt like my life was ruined. And I hadn’t even looked at the reading yet!

The reality for me and over the coming few months, was that I needed to take massive and drastic action with what I called life. I was personally getting double figure blood glucose readings every morning and some of you may know that this is simply not acceptable. I didn’t really consider myself active, but I didn’t just sit around the house all day either. I had an office job that I drove to in my car and I always packed my lunch so I was never out walking during the day. There was a culmination of missed opportunities.

So what did I do? Our actions are driven by just two desires. To avoid pain or gain pleasure. We will always avoid pain first and then once that is accomplished we seek pleasure. Truly successful people, and I don’t mean success by riches or fame, I mean successful in terms of accomplishing things they really want to accomplish, have worked out a way of putting pleasure before pain. They will focus on the pleasure they will get from achieving a goal rather than the pain associated with getting there.

I did an Ironman triathlon in March 2004. You do a 3.8km swim, you ride your bike for 180km and then you run 42.2km. The winner was just under 8 and a half hours. I took 13! And the training involved with that was painful on some days, but all I ever thought of when I was out there before the sun came up was the day of the race when I would cross the finish line with my arms raised in triumph above my head. There’s a photo of me doing that right here. Mission accomplished.

But my goal of completing an Ironman was very personal. It was what I wanted to do to get back into exercise. You don’t have to do a triathlon to tame diabetes. My blood sugar levels were under control long before the high mileage weeks in my training program came around.

So what can you do? Here’s three steps:

1. Get upset. Get really upset. It might be with your body shape, it might be by the fact that if you don’t control your blood sugar you reduce your life span on this great earth or it might be that you hate the mood swings associated with fluctuating blood sugar levels. If you can not be completely upset with your current situation, you have no need to take action.
2. Write down 4 things you can do from right now to achieve your goal. And be specific. It might be reducing your BGL to the normal range, losing 3 kilograms or incorporating 4 30-minute walks into your week. And you need to live those 4 ideas. You need to own them. If you say, “it is wrong for me to eat fried food” here’s how you should own that statement. Imagine someone bigger and faster than you is holding a gun to you head. For starters, lets say it is me. So you can’t overpower me, or run away. If you eat fried food, that action would trigger the gun in my hand. How many people in the room would eat fried food? Sounds extravagant but it works, and let me tell you something else. If you are diabetic and eat fried food, you are killing yourself anyway, it’s just not as quick as that gun.
3. Take action. I have a friend who is 130kg at the age of 27. I asked him in an email what his exercise regime was. He replied to me that he was still researching his best options. I rang him up and said “with all due respect, you don’t need to research exercise options, you need to get off your butt and go for a walk.” Only once you are consistently exercising for more than 30 minutes 4 times a week should you even bother about how efficient your exercise is. Walking is best because it has some impact on your skeletal system. Running is fine if you have checked it out with a doctor first, riding and swimming are great but there is no impact which I personally believe your body needs. All of these things should be checked out with a GP before you start.

So here comes the sales pitch, and if you have a pen I would encourage you to write this down.

“Most people’s lives are a direct reflection of the expectations of their peer group.”

You need to really think about this and understand this. If the people you are currently surrounding yourself aren’t helping you to meet your goals, they are hindering you. You know the saying; if you’re not part of the solution you are part of the problem. If you do not feel like they are committed to your well-being, you need to realise this. Because if you can’t be strong around them, when they are all heading to McDonalds and your belly is grumbling, you are the one who will suffer.

Don’t ever make the mistake of believing that it’s “only one big Mac” or “only one ice cream” because our whole life is an accumulation of all the small decisions we are making every single moment. When I was growing up I once made a decision to not get in a car that was involved in an accident. Both of the occupants were killed. My decision seemed like no big deal at the time, but turned out to be pretty significant. And now, I choose to actively make decisions about every aspect of my life, not to float along with “whatever’s happening”. You should too, because life is a gift and you have absolutely no idea what you are capable of.

And never forget to reward yourself for your victories, when I crossed the finish line in NZ I could only walk to the medical tent, but after that I partied like it was 99! Keep congratulating yourself, keep moving forward, we owe it to ourself to keep moving forward.

I will leave you now with my favourite quote. It’s from George Leonard and his book Mastery.

“Whatever your age, your upbringing, or your education, what you are made of is mostly unused potential. It is your evolutionary destiny to use what is unused, to learn and keep on learning for as long as you live….How do we begin that journey? You need only take the first step. When? There’s always now.”